New Kidz In Town
by Alexz Recoro and Project M.A.X
Summary: Logan, Max, and her siblings meet some other 'escapees' from Manticore. Set during the season finale. Max/Logan, Krit/New Character, Syl/New Character. Chapters 3 & 4 up
1. The V's

Title: New Kidz In Town  
  
Authors: project M.A.X. and Alexz Recoro  
  
Summury: Logan, Max, and her siblings meet some other 'escapees' from Manticore. Set during the season finale. Max/Logan, Krit/New Character, Syl/New Character  
  
Disclaimer: We own none of the Dark Angel characters in this story. We only own the thoughts in our heads and the characters we created.   
  
  
  
  
  
NEW KIDZ IN TOWN  
"You said you needed a few perfect soldiers. Well here we are." Max said to Lydecker, inditacting Zack, Krit and Syl with her arm.   
"Yeah, I did say I needed a few perfect soldiers. But I didn't mean you." Lydecker smircked.   
"Well, then who did you mean?" Max asked, confused.   
"He means us." A voice said from the shadows of the warehouse.   
  
Everyone whirled toward the sound of the voice as two boys and two girls stepped more into the light. But they were still in the shadows.   
"Who are you?" Zack asked, the threat obvious in his voice. Lydecker stepped forward and put his hand on Zack shoulder. "Zack calm down. This is the 'V' group."   
"The 'V' group?!" Krit and Max said at the same time.  
  
"Yeah, the 'V' group. Boys and girls, feast your eyes on the best Manticore has to offer, well, had to offer." One of the girls said.   
"What are you talking about? WE'RE the best Manticore had to offer." Zack said, bristling.   
"Well now you don't seem to sure about that right now, do you, Zack is it?" One of the boys said. The other three collasped with laughter. A second later, the boy joined them.   
  
Lydecker hid a smile, and stepped foreward once again. "Now, you guys, don't be so hard on the X5's."  
"But its fun!" The other girl said.   
  
Zack stepped foreward, his fists clenched. "Hey! No one messes with my siblings while I'm around."  
"Ohh! Big bad Zack! I'm shacking in my booties!"   
"Back off pretty boy. I don't want to have to hurt you." The first girl chimed in.   
"Yeah, she might break a nail." The other boy cracked.  
"HEY!" The girl complained, hitting the boy on the shoulder.  
"OW! Easy there Alexz! I'm just kidding!"   
"Temper, temper." the other girl reminded her. Alexz just pouted for a moment before grinning and messing the boys hair.  
"Hey!"  
"Ah, shut up!"  
  
Lydecker broke in. "Come on you guys. Get out here so I can introduce all of you." The four kids stepped in the light. The first girl gave them a huge grin. Max thought she saw something sharp flash, but decided it was her imagination. "Max, Zack, Krit, Syl and Logan, this is V1-13-16." Lydeker said.  
  
"Call me Alexz." She said. She was short, about 5'0 and thin, about 110. Her hair was thick, silky, black hair, with white bangs. It was pulled back into a ponytail, and then braided and fell to her waist. She had golden-brown skin, and a small rounded face with a pointed little chin. She had a small upturned nose, high cheekbones, a small full mouth and huge, almond-shaped, bright intense green eyes that burned with the fire of a rebel.   
  
"This is V8-80-85."  
"That's Spike to you." The first boy said. He was about 5'6 and about 130. He had bleched blonde hair that was almost white, and pale skin that highlighted his deep green eyes, and his high cheekbones. He had a scar over his left eye, was wearing black nail polish on his nails, and talked with a British accent. He had a devel-may-care smile, and an evil, mischievous glint in his eyes.   
  
"This is V4-46-49."  
"Call me Kesal." The other boy said with a grin. Max saw the sharp glint again, but when she blinked it was gone. Kesal was about 5'4 and about 140. His black hair was spiked with green tips. He had golden-brown skin, electric blue eyes, a thin nose, and a small mouth. He had a serious look, but there was a hint of a grin in his blue eyes.  
  
"This is V6-68-61, the youngest of the group."  
"Call me Pro." The last girl said. Pro was 5'2 and about 110. She had darkly tanned skin, prominent cheekbones, a full mouth, and a tiny ski-jump nose. Her eyes were huge, one green and one blue. Her hair was long, curly and a dark red with purple streaks. Pro had an angelic smile, but there was a devious glint in her eyes.   
  
"Pro?" Zack asked, smirking. Spike looked him over.   
"It stands for Project M.A.X."  
"Project M.A.X?!" Zack asked, smirking even more. Spike clenched his fists.   
"What, you got a problem with my baby 'sisters' name, punk?" He asked, getting right in Zack's face. Zack backed up a little, then put up his fists. Alexz ran foreward.   
"Now children, if we're going to play together, we have to learn how to share." She said, putting her arms around Spikes waist and pulling him back. Spike resisted for a minute, then let her pull him back.   
  
Lydecker stepped between the two. "Both of you knock it off!" He didn't want to have his X5's and his V's fighting. Especially because the V's would tear the X5's apart without breaking a sweat. "We're not here to fight. I don't want you to get hurt." He added, looking at Zack.  
"ME! Why don't you worry about me hurting them?!" Zack asked. The V's collapsed in fits of laughter. "You think you could hurt us?" Spike asked getting his breath back.   
  
Zack stepped foreward. "Yeah, I think I could!" He ran towards Spike, using all of his Manticore speed. Spike simply stepped out of the way, and grabbed Zack's shirt. Using Zack's momentum against him, Spike spun around and threw Zack across the room. Zack flew through the air and hit into the wall. Zack shook his head, then sat up and stumbled back across the room to where Krit, Syl and Max were.   
  
"Aww! Did poor widdle Zacky get thrown across the room?" Pro asked with a smirk. Zack growled at her, but all Spike did was glare at him and Zack just sat down and glared at Pro. Krit started to laugh.   
"Ohhh! You got your butt whooped boy! By a kid!" Zack swipped at Krit, but Kirt just moved out of the way, and Zack fell over. Which caused the V's to laugh histerically.   
Pro glanced Krit's way. "Ohh! I like you! Your funny!" She looked at Alexz and Spike. "Can I keep him?"   
Alexz just laughed. "Do what ever you want Pro."   
"What does she mean 'keep me'?" Krit asked, confused.   
"You don't want to know." Spike muttered, laughing.   
"Yes I do."  
Understanding lite up in Alexz's eyes. "No, trust us, you *don't* want to know."   
  
Pro glared at Spike and Alexz, then ran up to Krit and gave him a hug. "Come on Krit, let's go play."   
Krit grinned. "Lydecker, I like this girl."   
Pro pulled on Krit's hand. As she started to lead him away, Alexz and Spike rushed over.   
"Come on Pro. Let's go find something to do." Alexz said as she grabbed Pro's arm. When they were out of hearing range, even for an X5, Alexz whispered. "Down girl, down! What about Angel." She teased gently.   
"Angel who?" Pro looked so innocent that Alexz expected her to sprout wings and a halo.   
  
Alexz rolled her eyes, but before she could answer, Spike jumped on to her back. "Angel, as in 'my best friend Angel'." Alexz arched her back, throwing Spike to the floor. Pro looked at him.   
"Who cares? Your 'best friend Angel' isn't here. And what he doesn't know won't hurt him."   
  
Alexz just rolled her eyes, then held out a hand to Spike. He grabbed it, but instead of pulling himself up, he pulled her down into his lap.   
"Ahhh! Spike!" Alexz yelled, then looked up. "Spike! We let her get away! She's going back for him!"   
  
Alexz and Spike both jumped to their feet. Sure enough, Pro was back to flirting with Krit. When she saw Alexz and Spike coming, she yelped and ran to Kesal. She hid behind him. "Keep them away! Keep them away!"  
"Oh no! Keep me out of this!" Kesal yelled, holding up his hands and backing away. "I'm not getting in the middle of this again! I'm still in pain from the last time *you* got me involved."   
Pro looked at him in disgust. "Don't give me that! That was three months ago!"  
"Drew broke my arm!"  
"Your a fast healer you baby!"  
"Not that fast!"  
"Are too!"  
"Are not!"  
"Are too!"  
"Are not!"  
  
Alexz and Spike rolled their eyes and walked away. Max grabbed Alexz's arm. "Aren't you going to stop those two?"  
"Of course not! Those two will be at it for hours! It's best to just let them get it out of their systems now."  
Spike laughed and put his arm around Alexz's shoulders. "Yeah, if we're lucky, Pro will get pissed off and rebreak Kesal's arm."   
  
Alexz saw Krit walking towards the fighting siblings out of the corner of her eye. "Uh oh."   
Spike looked at her. Alexz motioned with her head towards Krit. "Oh bloody hell!" Spike whispered under his breath. He started towards them, but suddenly found himself on his stomach on the floor, with Alexz sitting on his legs.   
"Oh no you don't, William!"  
"I told you not to call me that!" Spike growled. He tried to roll over, but Alexz was stronger than she looked. She was also the most stubborn of the bunch. She made a face at Spike's back.   
"Deal with it." She said, grinning. "William!" Alexz dragged the name out, making Spike cringe.   
  
  
  
  
  
Krit finally managed to pull Pro away from Kesal. She looked like she was about to follow up on Spike's wish and rebreak Kesal's arm. Krit had to pry her off of Kesal's throat. Krit picked Pro up off the ground. Pro kicked, and fought him.   
"Let me go! Let me go!"   
"No way Pro. Calm down."  
"Let me go! I'm gonna kill him!"  
"No your not Pro, no your not."  
"Yeah Pro! You might mess your hair!" Kesal smirked. Alexz and Spike noticed the way Pro's eyes blazed. They looked at each other.   
"Uh oh!" They said at the same time.  
Max looked at them. "Uh oh what? Is Krit going to get hurt?"  
"I'm not worried about Krit right now. I'm worried about my bleedin' idiot of a 'sister' killing my even bloodier idiot of a 'brother'." Spike said getting to his feet. Noticing Max's worried look, he smiled, something flashing in his mouth again. "Don't worry, Krit will be fine. It's Pro and Kesal we should be worried about."  
  
Pro managed to get her feet on the floor, and tossed Krit over her back. He landed on his back, out of breath but fine. Kesal backed away, smirk still in place.   
"Ohh, I'm so scared! It's my baby 'sister', the escaped Project M.A.X.!"   
"Kesal! You are a dead man!" Pro screamed as she ran at him. Kesal may have been arrogant, but he wasn't stupid. He turned tail and ran.   
"Help!" He yelled as he ran past Alexz and Spike where they were sitting on a table.   
"Don't think so Kes." Spike yelled, grinning.   
"Yeah Kes. You've dug your own grave. We ain't helping."   
"Thanks a lot you two!" Kesal's voice floated back to them, filled with disgust.   
  
Alexz and Spike laughed. Then they heard Kesal scream in pure terror as Pro got close enough to grab his shirt. Then Pro's yell of rage, and the sound of a shirt tearing, as Kesal managed to slip out of Pro's grasp once again. He ran past Alexz and Spike again, this time his shirt flapping out behind him, and the murder in his eyes mixed with terror. Kesal loved to wear long baggy shirts to his knees that he tucked into his jeans. But Pro had untucked his shirt, and had ripped a huge chunk out of the back of it.   
  
Pro ran past them, following Kesal, a peice of the green frabic from Kesal's shirt cluched in her fist. When they saw the look in her eyes, Alexz and Spike stiffled their laughter until she was past them. By that time, Krit had gotten his breath back and was watching Pro and Kesal come towards him. Kesal thought of one last person who could help him, short of what ever Powers That Be sending someone to scoop him out of danger. But, Nefertiti was on a mission... No! Bad Kesal, bad! He was in danger of being hung, drawn and quartered, and he was thinking about his raging horomones! He looked around widly, then saw Krit. His eyes lite up with a mischievous idea. Yes! He could use Pro's own raging hormones against her. He changed course slightly, and headed towards Krit.   
"Krit, buddy, friend, pal, chum, acquaintance, companion, amigo! Help me out here!" He yelled as he ran past.   
  
Krit launched himself at Pro's legs as she ran past. She tried to get up, but Krit's superior weight kept her legs pinned to the ground, allowing Kesal to reach the ladder that lead to the balcony and disapear into the darkness.   
  
Pro groaned out loud. "Now I'll never catch him." Then she used her agilty to twist her body so that she was laying on her back instead of her stomach and her legs were free from Krit's hold. Then she stood up, straightened her shirt, and ran a hand through her long red hair. Then she whriled around to face Krit, murder in her eyes.   
"JUST WHAT DID YOU THINK YOU WERE DOING! I ALMOST HAD HIM! YOU, YOU, YOU...ARGHHH!" Pro started to turn away, but Krit grabbed her arms and spun her back around. He pinned her to the wall and kissed her.   
  
Pro purred and leaned into him, returning the kiss. Alexz and Spike looked at each other before runnng towards the two. They stopped just before reaching them, Alexz racking her brain to come up with a plan to get Pro and Krit apart.   
"What are we going to do?" She whispered, so softly that only Spike could pick it up.   
Spike grinned at her, and she frowned. "What's with the smile? I don't like it when you smile like that!" Alexz held up her hands and started to back away. "Spike? Stop that! Your scaring me!" Spike dived at Alexz and pinned her to the wall. Alexz glared at him, as he pinned her wrists to the wall. His forehead extended, and his eyes narrowed, becoming ferel and yellow, exposing the V's vampire blood.   
"SPIKE! Let me go! No! Bad idea, bad idea! Stop! Stupid idea! Stupid idea!" Alexz yelled as she tried to wiggle away, but Spike had her wrists frimly pinned to the wall. Alexz looked around for an escape route and not seeing one, she began to panic as Spike leaned closer and closer. 'Oh bloody hell!' she cursed in her mind. 'Why the bloody hell not.' And with that she leaned towards Spike and kissed him first. Spike's eyes opened wide, before he closed them and purred as he kissed her back. Alexz smiled when she heard him purr. Then she broke the kiss and ducked under his arms.   
  
Then she walked over to where Pro and Krit were still obvoius to the world.   
"Hey! Pro! Pro, need to breath! Hello, Krit is mortal! Need oxygen!" Pro broke the kiss long enough to growl "Bite me!" before going back to kissing Krit. Alexz rolled her eyes. Then she shoved her way in between the two. Since both were severel inchs taller then her, they were able to keep kissing over her head. Alexz swore under her breath at whoever had given her the short gene, but pushed it out of her head.   
  
She put her hands on Krit's chest, then pushed him away from Pro. Somehow they managed to stay connected for a few more moments before Alexz managed to force them apart. Spike grabbed Pro's arm and got her out of there fast.   
  
Then Lydecker managed to save them. "Come on you guys! We are here to do a mission, not play Love Connection!" Pro looked at him, and gave him her best 'kicked puppy look'.   
"I can't help it! Leave me alone!" Pro was trying to sneak around Alexz, but Spike grabbed her.   
"I don't think so little sis." He sat her down on a chair and reached into one of the pockets of his duster and pulled out a couple pair of handcuffs.   
"I don't even want to know." Alexz said, rolling her eyes.   
Spike grinned. "Let's just say I like to be prepared."  
"Ahhhh! I didn't need to hear that!" Alexz yelled, putting her hands over her ears.   
"Well you heard it. Deal with it, Alexzandria!"  
Alexz turned around with fire in her eyes. "What did you just call me?" She asked between clenched teeth. Spike finished handcuffing Pro hands and feet to the chair, and turned around to face Alexz, a smirk on his face.   
"Alexzandria." Spike drew the name out, enjoying the look of pain on Alexz's face.   
  
Sudenly, Krit broke up the fight. "Hey! You can't..."  
Spike reached out and covered Krit's mouth. "Shut up." Krit closed his mouth. Spike pushed Krit until he reached a chair. "Sit down." Krit sat. "Good boy!" Spike said, grinning as he went back to teasing Alexz.   
  
"Spiiiiiiiike!" Pro whined. "Why are you doing this? It's not fair."  
"Life isn't fair." Spike shot back. From behind them came the sound of Kesal laughing hysterically. Then they heard " AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH!" as Kesal fell over the railing of the balcony and landed on the floor below. Spike and Alexz started to laugh, and even Pro giggled a little.   
  
Kesal limped over, rubbing his upper arm as he made his way over to his siblings. Pro smirked at him.   
"Stupid klutz! That's what you get."  
"Shut up." Kesal mumbled, rubbing his chin where a bruise was beginning to form.   
  
Alexz rolled her eyes and fought to keep a smile off her face. Max tapped her on the shoulder.   
"Are they always like this?" She asked.   
"Like what?" Alexz asked absently.  
"Always at each others throats."  
"Yep." Alexz responded, flashing a smile at Max.   
"Yep what?" Kesal asked, jumping up onto the table to sit next to his 'sister'.   
"None of your business Kesal." Alexz smirked.   
"Just tell me what you two were talking about!"  
"No."  
"Yes!"  
"No!"  
"YES!'  
"NO!"  
  
"Hey you two, chill." Spike said. Alexz and Kesal were now standing toe to toe, glaring at each other. Except Kesal had to look down and Alexz had to look up to meet each others eyes. Spike rolled his eyes and stepped between the two 'siblings'. "Guys! We don't have time to be fighting!"   
  
Several hours later, they headed out. 


	2. Decisions

"I can't believe you had to kiss your motorcycle good-bye! And you think I'm weird." Pro grumbled to Max as they made their way silently through the woods surrounding Manticore.  
"Pro! I told you before, SHUT UP!" Spike hissed through Pro's earpiece. "We need to be SILENT! You do understand the meaning of that word, right?"  
"Yes, William!" Pro snarled, rolling her eyes. Spike let loose with a string of obsenties that even Max heard. Pro grinned and tapped her ear peice twice to shut it off. She waited a minute before turning it back on.   
"...and if you ever call me William again, I turn you into Manticore myself!" Spike finished. Alexzs voice, shaking with contained laughter, came over the radio.   
"Okay, okay. Radio silence." Pro opened her mouth, but knew if she broke radio silence just to chew out Spike, she'd be in major trouble. Max smiled and shook her head as they walked through the woods.   
  
  
  
  
  
"Do you always have to yell at her?" Alexz snapped at Spike.   
"She called me William!" Spike was still shaking with rage at Pro.   
"So what?" Alexz snarled at him, letting her vampire face come out.   
"Alexz, you know I hate being called William as much as you hate being called Alexzandria."   
"SHUT UP!" Alexz hissed. Before Spike knew what had happened, she had bit his neck, hard!  
"OWWWWWWW!" Spike yelled. Alexz slapped her hand over his mouth before more than a squeak had emerged. She lifted her hand off, and Spike snarled, his own fangs sliding down. "Owww." He whispered. "That hurt!"  
"What did?" Came Logan's voice over the ear peice.   
"Alexz bit me!" Spike said, indignantly.  
"She what?" Max's voice came over now, while Pro laughed hysterically in the background.   
"I bit him because he wouldn't shut up! Now, did I or did I not say RADIO SILENCE!" Alexz snarled.   
"Oh, what are you going to do Alexz, bite me too?" Pro asked over the radio.   
"No, I'll get Angel to do that! Only problem is, he might enjoy that too much."  
"Shut up!" Pro said.   
"Ahh, Max, is she blushing?" Spike teased.   
"Yep!" Max said gleefully over the radio.   
"I can't win." Pro whispered.   
  
Alexz fought the laughter that treatened to overflow from her throat. "Radio silence, now!" This time no one argued with her. "Finally, they listen to me. About time."   
"Alexz you sound like Dr... Owww!" Spike yelped as Alexz chomped down on his neck again. "What is it with you and bitting me tonight?"  
"My bloodthrist is on high."  
"You haven't been drinking your blood?" Spike asked, his eyes wide, not believing his luck. Alexz shook her head, her eyes still foreward. Spike hooted with laughter and had to refrain from rolling on the ground so he didn't get his fatigues wet and muddy. "Ohhhh! I'm telling on you!"  
"Tattletell." Alexz shot back at him. "You tell, and I'm biting you again."  
"Nothing has stopped you from doing it all night." Spike muttered. Alexz hissed and opened her mouth.   
"Just kidding! Just kidding! Look, it's Manitcore!"   
  
  
  
  
  
"So, Kesal. What are your sisters like?" Zack asked.   
Kesal shot him a sideways look. "Depends on what 'sister' you want to know about."  
"How many do you have?"  
"Four. You've only met two. I also have four 'brothers'."  
"Who are your sisters?"  
"Alexz, Project M.A.X. , Cordelia and Nefertiti." Kesal usually bright eyes glazed over slightly when he said Nefertiti's name.   
"Dude, you have a crush on your sister!" Zack said, digusted.   
"So what? You have a crush on Max, even though she likes Logan. As besides, Nefertiti's not really my 'sister'. It's just easier to call her my 'sister' then to explain what she is."   
"So, what does M.A.X. stand for anyway?" Zack asked.  
"Mutant Alteration Experimentation." Kesal said, vemon obvious in his voice.   
"Mutant?"   
"Yeah. Let's just say we're very different from anything you've ever met, in Manticore or out."   
"Different how?" Zack asked.  
Kesal sighed. "Give me you knife." Confused, Zack handed Kesal the knife. "Watch this." Kesal held the knife over his arm. He took a deep breath and held it. Then he slashed his arm quickly with the knife.   
"What are you doing?!" Zack hissed. Then his mouth dropped. Before his very eyes, the skin had sealled and there was no trace of a cut. "Whoa! How did you do that?"  
  
Kesal smiled sadly. "I told you we were different."   
"Hey, why was Pro acting so weird, besides the fact she is in heat?"  
"Her heat cycles wreak havok on her for about a week, to a week and a half. Her systems kick into overdrive, and she gets a little crazy. Then she gets sick for a few days afterward. Nothing really serious, just a fevor, stomach ache, and a little nausea. She feels like crap for a few days, but it passes. She's usually pretty cool when she's not in heat."  
"Poor thing. I like her dude."  
"You have some competion."  
"Who? Krit? He won't stand in my way."  
  
Kesal shook his head. "Remember how I told you I have four 'brothers'?"  
"Yeah."  
"Well, they are Spike, Angel, Drew and Connor. Angel and Cordelia are the only true siblings in the V's. Their twins. Connor's dead. And Angel likes Pro!"   
  
  
  
  
  
"I can't belive how googly eyed you got over Pro. She was just using you to satisfie herself when she was in heat. It's not real emotion." Syl whispered to Krit.  
Krit held back a branch for her, then answered her. "Well maybe I like fake emotion better than real emotion. Besides, emotions are emotions. Who are you to say if their fake or real?"   
"Krit, I go into heat too. Granted, not as bad as Pro, but still its pretty bad. Your hormones take over, and you have almost no control. You can't think straight and you want to jump every guy within a ten mile radias. Max told me about when she went into heat just a few days ago. She was lucky that Cindy stopped her when she did, or she might have ruined a sure thing with Logan. As it was, she's lucky Logan is so understanding."   
"What do you mean? What happened?" Krit asked, intrigued.   
Syl shook her head. "It's not my place to tell you. Ask Max. If she wants to tell you, she'll tell you. If she doesn't, well," Syl shrugged, "then she'll kick your butt for asking about it."  
  
  
  
  
  
Pro pushed aside a small bush, and gazed down at the building that had haunted her nightmares since she was four years old. Max just looked at it in disgust.   
"Not exactly what I had in mind when I said I wanted a family reunion." Max muttered.   
"You had it easy compared to what we were going through in there. We were half your age, but we were pushed twice as fast and twice as hard to be faster, stronger and smarter than you." Pro leaned back on her heels. "And I hated every moment of it. They even took my 'brother' away from me. I don't even remember him!"   
"What are you talking about? When I was four years old, I didn't even understand what was going on. How could you?"  
  
Pro shook her head. "I was in and out of labratorys half the time. How could I not understand what was going on? And I told you, we were designed to be smarter then anything they had created before. Of course we knew what was going on!" She turned away, and her voice dropped to a whisper. "At least you knew all your brothers and sisters. They took my oldest 'brother', Connor, away from the group before I was old enough to remember him. The others do, because they are a little older than me, but I don't! Those bastards stole my 'brother' away from me!"   
  
Spike's voice came over the radio. "Okay, lets move in." The four groups moved in, with no trouble what so ever from the alarms.   
  
  
  
  
  
Pro, Max, Spike and Alexz met up in the hallway outside the DNA lab.   
"Gee Pro, your handling this pretty well." Alexz remarked. Spike elbowed her, but she ignored him.   
"Let's just do what we came here to do and get out of here before I do something I'll regret." Pro said through gritted teeth.   
Spike nodded and they moved down the hallway. To Max's surprise, the V's blended almost perfectly into the shadows of the hallway, disapearing completely.   
"Max, are you coming?" a voice at her elbow asked. She jumped and spun around. Spike was standing behind her, a michevious grin on his face.  
"Spike!" Max said, putting a hand over her racing heart. "What the hell are you doing there?"  
Spike ignored her. "Your supposed to be helping with this bloody lookout job." He glanced at his watch. "They've been gone to bloody long. I hope something hasn't gone wrong."  
"How long have they been gone?"  
"Three minutes."   
"Three minutes? Calm down, they probably haven't even got..."  
"We're done." Pro announced from behind Max. Max jumped again and Spike collapsed with laughter.   
"Max, I think they went a little overboard with those cat genes in you. Your too jumpy."   
Max made sure she stepped on his hand on her way past him. Spike hissed at her, then Alexz pulled him to his feet and they spilt up once again.   
"Met you outside." Alexz whispered to Pro and Max before her and Spike disapeared into the shadows.   
  
Max followed Pro down the hall, somehow knowing that, if she really wanted to, Pro could have left her behind, disapearing into the shadows just as easily as her 'brother' and 'sister'.  
"How do you guys do that?" Max asked quietly, straining all her senses to keep track of Pro, and try to keep a lookout for gaurds.   
"Do what?"   
  
The voice caught Max by surprise. She glanced around widly and couldn't see Pro. "That! Disappear!"  
Pro chuckled and emerged from the shadows right in front of Max. "Sorry. I know it's a little creepy, but it's natural for a V. We have some of the best hunters blood in the world. It's easy for us to disappear, and only be seen if we want to be seen."   
"The X's have some of the best predators blood too. How come none of us can do that?"   
Pro grinned, and tapped the part that had been flashing. "See these?" Max looked closer and saw with a start that instead of regular canines, Pro had fangs. "These and some other...um...qualities make us very different."   
"So the other's have fangs too?" Max asked, remembering the flashs at the warehouse.  
"Yes we have the bloody fangs! Now shut up!" Spike yelled over the radio. Max and Pro rolled their eyes at each other, then kept moving, Pro disapearing into the shadows, and Max using her instincts, and occasional whispers from Pro to follow.   
  
  
  
  
  
"Women!" Spike grumbled. "Always have to stop and chat! I hate doing missions with you!"   
Alexz stomped on his foot. Spike grunted, then elbowed her. Alexz shoved him, then raced ahead before he could retaliate. Spike hissed and raced after her, keeping to the shadows and using his hunter qualities to keep track of his 'sister'. They got outside, just to hear the lab blow behind them. Spike glanced at his watch.   
"Five minutes. You set the charges for too late."  
"V's aren't the only ones on this mission." Alexz reminded him. Just then, Max emerged from the smoke, coughing. Pro was nowhere in sight. Alexz streched out her senses, then whirled around and grabbed her 'sister's' wrist before she could grab her shoulder.  
"Never try and sneak up on a V 'sis'." Alexz said with a grin. She went quiet for a moment. "Here come the others."  
"How can you tell?" Max asked.   
"Trust us, she can tell." Spike grumbled, diapearing back into the shadows, followed by Alexz and Pro, leaving Max with the feeling that she was totally alone. She knew they were there, simply by inscint, but she couldn't see or hear them. It was creepy.   
  
Zack, Krit and Syl ran up to her. "We lost Kesal!" Zack announced. Max used her senses, and grinned.   
"No you didn't!" Kesal announced, emerging from the shadows. Zack, Krit and Syl jumped. Max even jumped a little, even though she knew he was there. "Jumpy guys? Too many cat genes." He grinned.   
"That's what I said." Spike said from the shadows. Kesal looked confused for a minute, then smiled and disapeared into the same shadows the others had gone into.   
"Whoa! How did he do that? Majorly creepy." Krit said with a shiver.   
Max grinned at her brother. "I know. I was look out with Spike, and he kept talking from the shadows. Then Pro kept disappearing on me. I don't think I'll ever get used to it."   
"That's not natural!" Zack cried.   
"Nothing that comes from here is naturel!" Alexz said from the shadows. Zack jumped.   
"Who's there? Where are you?" He yelled, glancing around widly. There were giggles from the shadows that seemed to come from everywhere. Alexz popped out her head, just her head. It was a creepy image. Her head just kind of there, nothing visable supporting it. Spikes appeared just below hers.   
"Hey guys. Whats hanging?" Spike grinned like a mad man.   
Krit shivered. "Dude, get out here! That's too creepy."  
Spike grinned and stepped out of the shadows with Alexz. She was riding piggy back, explaining how they had done that head trick. She hopped off his back and stood leaning against him. He put an arm around her shoulders and they both grinned at the X'5's, their fangs flashing.   
"Your crazy!" Krit declared.   
Spike shrugged. "Craziness keeps us sane."   
"That doesn't make any sense!"  
"Of course it does." Alexz said. "To a V." Then they were gone again, back to the shadows where their 'brother' and 'sister' were waiting.   
  
The X'5's stood staring at the spot. The Pro popped out. "Listen, are you going to stand here gawking, or are we going to go? Come on." And she was gone again. There was the sound of a fast and furious fight, then Kesal popped out of the shadows, stumbing as if he'd been pushed, his normally neat hair a mess. He glared at the shadows, then turned to the X'5's and ran a hand through his hair.   
"I've been desegnated your tour guide boys and girls. Now stay with the group and don't feed the animals. If you have any questions, I'd be happy to answer them. Not!" He started off, staying half out of the shadows so they could follow him.   
  
"Hey Kesal?" Syl asked tentivly.   
"What?" He turned, half of his body gone. It was weird. He was just standing there, looking at her curiously, while she could only see half his body.   
Syl threw a disgusted look at Krit, who had had a goofy grin on his face every since Pro popped out of the shadows, then ran after Kesal. "Wait up."   
  
Kesal raised his eyebrow, then smiled and extended his arm to her. "Of course little lady." Syl grinned for the first time in hours, took his arm, and they both disappeared into the shadows.   
  
  
  
  
  
Syl blinked, then looked around. "Where are we?" She asked Kesal. He grinned at her, then took her hand, holding it tightly.   
"This is where we keep going." Kesal said. "You see, the shadows are gaps in the real world. The V's can enter these gaps. It's pretty cool."   
"Yeah, it is." Syl said, looking around. Everywhere she looked, everything was gray. The only colors were the black she and Kesal were wearing. Alexz and Spike came towards them, Spikes almost white hair standing out like a sore thumb and his and Alexz's green eyes shining like bright lights.   
  
"Kes, we're going to met in this clearing up ahead here. Then we each take an X'5 and stay in the shadows. I can feel that somethings here. Oh, hi Syl!" Alexz said. Then she and Spike ran foreward and popped out of the shadows.   
  
Kesal gripped Syl's hand tightly and pulled her foreward with him. "Come on. We need to pop out just up here."  
"How can you tell?" Syl asked, finding it hard to concentrate with Kesal holding her hand. Kesal grinned at her, distracting her even more. "We can still see the real world. See?" He swiped his hand across some of the thick grayness, and Syl could see the forest, bright as day.   
"Whoa! Cool. Kind of creepy though." She shivered a little. Kesal gave her a hug, then whispered in her ear.  
"Yeah, but I've always considered it a prime make out spot." He gave her a kiss on the cheek, then pulled her out of the shadows into the clearing.   
  
They emerged from the shadows to join Spike, Alexz and Pro in the clearing, Kesal and Syl still holding hands. They heard Zack, Krit and Max calling out. Kesal hit his forehead with his hand.   
"Opps! I forgot my tour group!" He yelped and disappeared back into the shadows. Soon the V's saw him leading the X'5's through the woods. His face was red and he was shaking with contained anger. He had Zack by the back of the neck and threw him to the ground at Spike's feet.   
"Get this idiot out of my face before I do something I'll regret." He snarled. Syl stood up and went to him. He grabbed her hand and they disappeared into the shadows.   
  
"Kes, get out here! We gotta go!" Spike called. Kesal stepped out of the shadows.   
"Lets just get out of here. I'm with Syl!" Kesal declared, brighting when Syl slipped her hand into his. He grinned shyly at her and sat down at the base of one of the trees. Syl sat down next to him and leaned against him, and Kesal arm went around her waist. Spike and Alexz grinned like the cats that had swallowed the canary and turned to the others.   
"Okay, I'll go with Krit, Spike will go with Zack, Max will go with Pro, and I guess that Kesal is going with Syl. Let's move out." Alexz said. She grabbed Krit's wrist and dragged him toward the shadows.   
  
As each headed off with their charges, Alexz saw Kesal give Syl a quick kiss out of the corner of her eye. 'Awww! How cute!' she thought before dragging Krit into the shadows.   
  
  
  
  
  
"Where are they?" Zack asked, pacing back and forth at the foot of a very large pine tree. Max, Pro, Kesal and Syl were still somewhere in the shadows. Spike and Alexz were in the tree as look outs, enjoying annoying Zack by pretending to fall off their branches.   
"Come on you guys! Stop messing around! Aren't you worried about your brother and sister?"   
Alexz was hanging upside down from her branch, so she looked at Zack a little cross-eyed. "Why should we? Pro and Kesal can take care of themselves and Max and Syl."   
"Yeah Zack. Chill out." Spike added, hanging upside down from his branch as well. With his insane grin and fangs, he looked like a vampire from an old horror movie. Spike swung his legs off the branch and landed on Alexz's. Alexz extended her hand and he pulled her upright.   
  
Just then Max and Syl ran in. Alexz looked, but there was no sign of Pro or Kesal. 'They must be doing a permiter check.' she thought.   
"We lost Pro and Kesal!" Syl yelled, near tears.   
Alexz and Spike really did fall out of the tree at that.   
"WHAT?!?!" They both yelled, as they struggled to untangle themselves from each other.  
  
Zack, Krit, Max and Syl watched in amazement as Alexz and Spike tried to get up.  
"OWWW! Get your foot out of my mouth!" Spike yelled.   
"Sorry! Get your foot off my back!" Alexz retorted.   
  
Alexz managed to get out from under Spike and stood up. Then she whirled on Max. "What do you mean you lost Pro and Kesal?!"  
Spike stood up next to her. "Where's my little 'sister'?!" He demanded.   
"I thought you said Pro and Kesal could take care of themselves." Zack said.  
Spike threw a look of pure contempt over his shoulder at Zack. "They can. But those to are like oil and water. They fight continuously, and right now won't be any different. We got to find them!"   
  
Logan came over the radio. "Guys! Get out of there!"  
Lydeckers voice followed Logan's. "Now! They released the X7's on you! Get out!"   
  
The V's were getting ready to pull the remaining X5's into the shadows when they were attacked. Everywhere they looked, there were faces. Faces they knew. Alexz stagered back when she saw Angel and Drew's faces in the crowd. Beside her, she heard Spike gasp. She glanced over and had to stifle a scream. In front of Spike was. . .her! And Spike was there too! But they were much younger, only eight or nine. What was going on?   
  
Kesal dived out of the trees and threw several rocks into the crowd. From the cries and the smug look on his face, he had thrown them with all his might. The cries of pain broke everyone out of their stunned state, and they moved into action. Spike and Alexz both moved as one. Even Zack envied how well they fought together. It was like they read each others minds. Kesal danced around the edge of the trees, throwing punchs, kicking the back of knees, throwing rocks and taunting the nine year olds. Understanding dawned in Alexz's mind. These kids might have been born and raised at Manticore, but they were still nine year olds. And nine year olds HATED being taunted. Sure enough, more and more of the X7's shifted their attetion from the small group to Kesal. A few fired shots, but Kesal dived and weaved between the trees, so the bullets just buried themselves into the trunks.  
  
Alexz realized that Kesal was trying to draw the X7's attetion away from them so that they could get away. She spun around to yell to Spike, only to watch, in horrifed slow motion, as his body jerked foreward and fell to the ground, hit in the back by a round of poorly aimed bullets from one of the X7's guns.   
"SPIKE!" She screamed, running to him and dropping to her knees beside him. There was blood everywhere. "SPIKE! SPIKE!" She screamed hysterically. Through the painful haze that clouded her brain, she heard her older brother scream "Get the hell out of here! NOW!" Alexz clutched Spike's black shirt in her hands and pulled. Spike's body rolled over on to his back. His eyes were closed, and he wasn't breathing.   
'Duh! He doesn't breath anyway idiot!' Alexz told herslef, trying not to panic. She managed to pull Spikes body onto her shoulder. His body just hung there. 'Like a dead weight.' she thought before she could stop herself. "Stop that!" She said out loud. She ran to where the X5's were waiting. Zack and Krit took Spike from her, and Alexz turned, thinking to go help her brother. But Kesal sensed what she was thinking and his voice floated through the woods. "GO! ALL OF YOU GO! PLEASE! I'LL DRAW THEM AWAY!"  
  
Alexz stopped. Syl seemed to finally realize what Kesal was doing, and started for the clearing. Alexz grabbed her.   
"NO! KESAL, NO!" Syl screamed, fighting Alexz's hold. "KESAL DON'T! PLEASE!"   
"I LOVE YOU SYL!" Kesal shouted, before they heard the sounds of the fight dying away as Kesal led the X7's away from them. Syl hung limply in Alexz's hold, sobbing. "No Kesal. No. Please." She whispered.   
"Syl, I'm sorry." Alexz said, her own tears running down her face. "I'm so sorry."   
  
She let go of Syl, and Syl just lay on the ground sobbing. Alexz turned to where Zack and Krit had laid down Spike. One look at Spikes pale face and unmoving chest and she almost broke down. But she couldn't cry. Spike would tease her forever if she cried. That's when she lost it. Spike had used up his forevers. The tears started rolling down her face. She walked over to him. The ground beneath Spike was covered with blood, and his black fatigues were soaked with it. Alexz's tears fell faster. 'He was hit with twenty bullets in the back. He can't be alive.'  
  
Spike's eyes opened and he sat up. He blinked and looked around. He saw Alexz and spang to his feet.   
"Alexz! What's wrong? Why are you crying?" He asked, concern in his voice.   
"Spike." Alexz whispered. "SPIKE!" She screamed, throwing herself into his arms and crying into his chest. Spike wrapped his arms around her and held her tightly. He rested his cheek on the top of her head.   
"Shh, shh. Don't cry, it's all right." He whispered. He looked around confused. "Where are the other two?"  
Alexz pulled back and wiped her eyes. "Pro and Kesal distracted the X7's so we could get away."   
  
While she had been holding back Syl, Alexz had relized that Pro had kept some of the X7's back, and that Kesal had gone after the rest of the X7's when they had come after Spike, Max, Zack, Krit, Syl and her.   
  
"WHAT?!?!" Spike screamed. He started toward the clearing, but Alexz darted foreward and grabbed his arm.   
"Spike." She said softly. "It's too late. He...he...he's gone." She started crying again, and Spike just stood there stunned for a minute.   
"No. No! NO! He can't be! He can't be! NOOOOOOO!" Spike wailed, sinking to his knees. Alexz knelt next to him and wrapped her arms around him. He hugged her tightly in return. Alexz leaned her forehead against his, and let him cry. He and Kesal fought a lot, but she had seen them leap to each others defense in an instant. Only two weeks apart, they were closer than anyone else in the V group, including Angel and Cordelia.   
  
Slowly, even Zack wiping away tears, they left the woods and made their way back to the van. They decided to wait a while to see if Pro and Kesal found their way back. While they waited, Logan removed the bullets from Spike's back. After he had gotten them all out, the wounds had closed. He sat down and Max came over. She gave him a quick kiss, then sat on his lap. Zack sat in the corner and stared at his feet. Krit sat on a chair, staring at the floor stunned. Alexz sat on Spikes lap, and they sat by Syl in the doorway, hoping against hope that their older 'brother' and their youngest 'sister' would appear out of the woods.  
  
They stayed there until late the next night, none of them saying much of anything. With the vampire blood in them, the V's had infinete patience, and Syl flat out refused to leave unti there was no hope of Kesal showing up. But soon even Spike had to admit that Kesal and Pro should have found them by then and they decided to leave. Syl didn't say a word the entire eleven hour trip back to Seattle, she just sat staring out the window, tears rolling down her face. 


	3. Captured

Disclaimer: Sorry, we forgot this part before. Okay, Angel, Cordelia, and Spike may sound familair, but they are actually based on people we know. Serious! Angel is based on Alexz's cousin, and Cordelia is a very good friend of ours. William is the actually name of a friend of Alexz's grandpa's that he met while he worked on the railroad in Germany during World War II. His nickname was Spike, he was British, he had white blonde hair, green eyes, and he lets his little granddaughter paint his fingernails black because she watchs Buffy. Also, Connor is an accident. We came up with him before we had even seen the end of season two of Angel. That is all.  
  
  
  
  
Pro slowly came too. She blinked a few times, and stared at the bare ceilings and walls, confused. Where were her posters and pictures? She rolled over, and sat up. She wasn't in her room at the warehouse. She was in a tiny cell, laying on a cot. Kesal was in the cell with her, sitting up on another cot across the room. He was sitting up, his arms wrapped around his legs and his chin on his knees. He had his eyes closed and looked like he was asleep. Pro was about to say something, when he spoke.  
"Morning Pro." He said, his eyes closed. He opened them, and looked at her, the spark of laughter that usually lit up his blue eyes gone. His eyes were sad, and there was a sorrowful look was on his usually cheerful face.   
"Kesal, where are we? What is this place?"  
"Pro, we're in Manticore."  
  
  
  
  
  
  
In Seattle, at the V's warehouse, the group was healing their wounds, both physical and mental. Syl wouldn't leave Kesal's room, and she hadn't stopped crying since they got home. Spike and Alexz wouldn't stop sparring. When they finally started landing hits, unable to dodge them anymore, they stopped. Zack and Krit were asleep. Spike sat on one of the beat up couches. Alexz lay down with her head in his lap. Spike pressed an ice pack to a bruise on Alexz's jaw, and she closed her eyes.   
  
The door burst open with someone yelling 'Knock knock!'   
Zack and Krit both jumped to their feet. Alexz and Spike jumped up, vamp faces in place, and dived at the intruder. Alexz grabbed him by the throat and pressed him up against the wall.   
"Give me one reason I shouldn't kill you." She snarled.  
"Because I'm your big 'brother'."   
  
  
  
  
  
Pro fell back on her cot. "No. No, this isn't possible." Kesal walked over and grabbed her shoulders. He hauled her to a sitting position.   
"Pro, it'll be okay. We're together, and they don't know what we can do. We're faster, stronger, and smarter than anything that's come out of here. We will get out. I promise."  
Pro smiled at him. "Thanks Kesal." She said. She threw her arms around his shoulders and squeezed. Kesal winced, and Pro pulled back. For the first time she realized a bloody piece of black cloth was tied around Kesal's muscular upper bicep.  
  
"Kesal, what happened? And where's your jacket?" Kesal shook his head and looked down at his outfit. He was wearing his black army boots, loose black fatigue pants, and a tight black tee shirt that clung to his muscles. A strip of cloth was tied around the upper bicep of his left arm.  
"I tore it up to make the bandage. I had to keep changing it because it would get soaked with blood."   
  
  
  
  
  
"Because I'm your big 'brother'." The stranger gasped out. He was finding it difficult to speak because Alexz was busy crushing his windpipe. Alexz and Spike withdrew their vamp faces, but Alexz didn't release him.   
"Angel! You idiot! You know better than to burst in on a sleeping V like that!" Alexz scolded. "What is wrong with you?!" She saw everyone looking at her, and cleared her throat.  
"I didn't know you were sleeping." Angel rasped. "It's two in the afternoon." Alexz threw him to the floor, then turned her back on him. Angel lay on the floor and coughed for a few minutes, then stood up and recovered himself.   
  
"Zack, Krit, this is our 'brother' V5-57-50, Angelus." Alexz said.  
"It's Angel!" He snarled. He was about 5'10 and about 190. He had dark brown hair that was almost black, and pale skin that highlighted his intense green eyes that looked into your soul. He had blue streaks in his hair, a small grin and his big soulful eyes made him look like either a puppy, or a hopeful little boy.   
  
"Why do I smell X5 blood?" He asked, glancing around. Alexz motioned at Zack and Krit, and Spike pointed upstairs.   
"Because we have four X5's here genius. Why else would you smell them?"  
"I thought maybe you or Spike got a little too hungry staying home alone all weekend." Angel tossed back at Alexz with a grin.  
  
Alexz was at his side in an instant, and smacked him in the back of the head hard enough to knock him flat on his face.   
"OWWWWWWWWW! What was that for?" Angel whined, rubbing the back of his head.   
"For being a smart ass!" Alexz snarled at him.   
"Gee, wake up on the wrong side of the catbox today Alexz? Pull back the claws a little." Angel smirked at he got up. He forgot that Alexz was as fast with her feet as she was with her fists, and found himself on his back, holding his bruised jaw.  
"OWWWWWW! Quit that, would you?"   
"Quit being a smart ass. I'm not in the mood right now."  
"Okay, okay. Geez, didn't mean to disturb your day, you Royal Pain!" Alexz whirled on him. Sensing that now was really not a good time to mess with his baby 'sister', Angel held up his hands. "Peace! Peace! White flag and all that."   
  
Alexz rolled her eyes, then went back to where Spike was sitting on the couch. She curled up next to him, her head in his lap. Angel just stared.   
"Why are you just sitting around? I'm sure there are some job offers in the message box. There must be some missions to keep you busy."  
  
Just then another girl walked into the warehouse. "Hey bro." She called. Angel grinned at her.   
"Hey Cordy. Whats up?"  
"I'm just looking for Pro. I found the killer outfit for her. Where is she?"  
  
Angel looked around, confused. "Yeah, where is Pro? She usually down here playing pool or fighting with Kesal or something. Oh yeah, and she's usually the first one to meet me at the door. Where the hell is she?"  
  
Alexz and Spike exchanged glances. Spike elbowed Alexz. "You tell him." He hissed, so low that even Alexz barely heard it.   
"No way! I'm not getting killed just because Pro gets a martyr complex! You tell him!" Alexz hissed back, just as quietly.  
"You tell him! He's your 'brother'!"  
"He's yours too, you big baby!"  
"Well, Pro's your baby 'sister'!"  
"She's yours too! Your older than both of us! You tell him!"   
"Just tell him! He'll be less likely to kill you!" Spike ended the argument by jabbing his elbow into Alexz's ribs, knocking the breath out of her, and then running off to the practice room and locking the door.   
  
Alexz recovered and faced Angel and Cordelia, who were looking at her, confused. Alexz scratched the back of her neck.   
"Umm, Angel, heh, we, umm, have some bad news...."  
  
  
  
  
  
"OWWWW! PRO!" Kesal roared.   
"SHUT UP!" Pro roared back. She was probing Kesals bicep with a pair of long metal tweezers, hunting for the bullet that had entered his muscle. They knew it was still in there, because the wound hadn't closed.   
"Got it!" Pro announced triumphantly, pulling out the tweezers and bullet.   
"OWWWWWWWWWWWW!" Kesal yelped.   
"Oh, quit whining you big baby. You've been shot up worse then these, but you never made a peep when Alexz, or Cordy, or Nefertiti pulled out the bullets."  
"That's because they can hurt me worse than you can." Kesal shot at Pro.   
"Shut up! I gave you a concussion when we were little, and I can do it again!"  
"It was not a concussion! Besides that, we were, like, two, not even that! You weren't strong enough to hurt me that bad! All you did was throw your rattle at me!"   
"It knocked you out!"  
"For, like, 30 seconds!"  
Pro shrugged. "Knocked out is knocked out."   
  
Just then, a voice announced from the shadows, "Don't you two ever stop ARGUING?!?!"  
  
  
  
  
  
Angel collapsed on the couch and put his head in his hands, in complete shock. Even with his face buried in his hands, Alexz knew her big 'brother' well enough to read his feelings. She could see the rage welling up inside him. Rage...and fear.   
"NO!" he roared. "Not Pro! NO!"  
  
Alexz watched her 'brother'. "Angel?" She asked fearfully, terrified that she would cry. "Are you all right?"  
Angel didn't answer. Raw terror pulsed through his mind. "God in heaven..." he groaned. "Not her!" His hand shook as he lifted them to the ceiling. "Not Pro...not Pro!"  
Alexz hovered next to her 'brother'. "Do you want me to call Drew?" She faltered, then scuttled backward as Angel surged to his feet.  
"No! I won't let them do this! If there is a God, this can't be Your will! I refuse to believe You could let this happen." He stood, his hands clenched into fists, his mind reeling, scrabbling to reestablish the formidable calm for which he was famous. "You will NOT allow this! Pro! My God...please!"  
  
  
  
  
  
"Gee, it's pathetic. You two probably never stop arguing!"  
Pro and Kesal whirled around. A tall boy stepped into the light.  
"I'm V7-79-72."  
He was about 6'2 and 195 pounds. His chin-length brown hair was hanging in his eyes, also brown. Pro could make out a large bone-white scar right above his right eyebrow. Something about the scar tugged at her memory. She frowned, but the memory disappeared as fast as it had appeared. The boy's smile was evil, and his eyes were cold.   
  
Kesal pushed Pro back behind him and stood in front of her.   
"What do you want Connor." It wasn't a question.   
  
Pro peeked around Kesal, her blue and green eyes wide with confusion. "Connor?"  
  
  
  
  
  
Angel stomped around his large room on the third floor of the V's warehouse. Alexz and Spike sat in Spike's room. Alexz groaned and turned Spike's stereo up even higher then it was, shaking the walls, and giving Spike a headache. It was no use. They could still hear Angel stomping around in his combat boots.   
  
"I'm going to kill him." Alexz growled.   
"Alexz, calm down. He's upset."  
"If he's not careful, he'll knock the warehouse down! He's strong enough to do it if he gets mad enough."  
"Alexz, have you ever known Angel to get so mad that he's out of control?"  
  
Alexz thought about it for a moment. "No. Not really." She admitted.   
"Then calm down. Sit." Spike pointed to the black directors chair next to his. Alexz threw herself into the chair.   
  
  
  
  
"Connor?" Pro asked, her eyes wide with confusion. The name tugged at her memory, but nothing she could hold on to.   
"Connor, why are you here? We all thought you were dead." Kesal said, a slight tremor in his voice.   
"Unfortunately for you, no." Connor told his younger 'brother' with a smirk.   
  
Kesal opened his mouth to reply, but his sharp eyes caught a tiny nod from Connor. There was a gasp from behind him, and he turned in time to catch Pro in his arms.   
"Pro!" He yelled. "What's wrong?" His sharp eyes studied his 'sister', looking for any sign of entry or injury that she hadn't mentioned before. Then he saw the end of a blow dart sticking out from just below her left shoulder blade.   
  
With a growl, he gripped the end of the dart and pulled it from his 'sister's' body.   
"What kind of 'brother' are you?" He snarled at Connor. "Your supposed to protect her, not let soldiers knock her out!"  
Connor's eyes flashed with anger, the first emotion Kesal had seen him display since he walked into the cell.   
  
"Your not my 'brother'!" He spat out. "You stopped being my 'brother' the day you all escaped and left me here!"  
"We thought you were dead! What were we supposed to do, wait around until one of us was next? Wait around until one day, Pro wasn't brought back from the lab? Wait around until one day, Alexz wasn't there after training classes to treat wounds or help me in computers class? Wait around until the day when Spike, or Angel, or Cordelia or Drew just disappeared? I don't think so Connor! Losing you was the final straw! Nobody could take it anymore! Yes, we left. But we didn't have a choice!"  
  
"Of course you had a choice!" Connor snapped back. "You could have chosen to leave my sister here! But no, you left me here, all alone! You took my only family away from me." He stepped foreword. "And if maybe if you had, I wouldn't have to do this!" He brought his fist down on the side of Kesal's neck. Kesal groaned, his eyes rolled up in his head and he fell limply to the ground.   
  
Connor caught the limp body of Pro, then viciously kicked Kesal in the ribs as he and the soldier who had knocked Pro out left the cell. Kesal regained consciousness just as the door slammed shut.   
"NO! PRO!" He yelled, throwing himself at the bars of the cell and gripping the bars. "PRO! Connor you bastard! PRO! PRO!" He sunk to the floor, cursing Connor and crying for his 'sister'.   
  
  
  
  
  
Spike and Alexz had abandoned Spike's room and retreated to Alexz's room on the fourth floor. They could still hear Angel stomping back and forth in his room, but now they could at least drown him out with some music. They were tossing a baseball back and forth across the room when a throw of Spike's went off course and hit Alexz's desk, knocking her com off of it. It hit the rug and bounced onto the hard floor.  
  
"Spike!" Alexz yelled, diving towards the fallen comlink.   
"Sorry." Spike said, coming up behind her. "Is it broken?"  
"Yeah." Alexz said studying it. "It will transmit, but it won't receive."   
"Can you fix it? What if someone needs to contact us?"  
"I designed a backup for that. It will record anything received. But I can fix it." Alexz said, moving towards her desk. She sat down and pulled out a long leather pouch. She unrolled it on her desk, revealing lots of long, delicate tools.   
  
Alexz selected a few tools and started poking at the shattered mess. Spike shook his head and left the room. When Alexz had something to work on, she was completely oblivious to the rest of the world. Spike decided to head downstairs and get something to eat. He didn't really need to, but he wanted to. He almost ran into Angel coming up the stairs while he was going down the stairs.   
  
"Whoa 'bro'! Where you goin' in such a bloody hurry?" He asked. Angel growled at him, letting his vamp face slip out a bit.  
"Where the hell does it look like I'm going, William?"   
"Don't call me William!" Spike instantly retorted. "Wait a minute. Why are you heading towards Alexz and Pro's rooms? I should warn you, Alexz is working on something and if you start stomping around up there the way you were down in your room, she'll rip your guts out and feed them to you."  
  
"Noted. I'm not going to stomp around, I promise. I'm just going to Pro's room."  
"What for?" Spike asked, waving his hands.  
"I don't know."  
"No brooding!" Spike ordered his 'brother'. "I don't allow brooding from you. This floor is a 'No Brooding' zone."  
  
Angel cocked his eyebrow at Spike.   
"I'm serious!" Spike insisted. "There's even a sign in Pro's room."  
  
  
  
  
When Pro came to, she was strapped to a table. When she tried to struggle, a sharp pain shot through her arm, and her other one went numb.   
"Well, this is just peachy." She muttered. Pro lay back and studied her surroundings. She turned her head when she heard someone moaning and saw Kesal strapped to a nearby table.  
  
"Kesal!" She hissed. "Kesal! Wake the hell up! Kesal!" The sound of a low, evil sounding chuckle made her whip her head around so fast she made herself dizzy.   
"Whoa, whiplash." She muttered under her breath before focusing on the source of the laugh. Connor had stepped out of the shadows.   
"Well, well, baby Project M.A.X. is awake." Kesal moaned louder and blinked slowly a few times before realizing where he was and who was standing next to his little 'sister'.   
  
"CONNOR! You asshole! Get away from her!" Kesal struggled against his bonds, but they held. "CONNOR!"  
"Shut up Kesal." Connor said, not even looking at him. Kesal continued to struggle, exerting more and more strength against the bonds, but they continued to hold.   
  
  
  
  
Angel threw open the door to Pro's room, only to find Max and Logan sitting up against the side of Pro's bed.  
"Who the hell are you?" He asked tiredly, rubbing his eyes. "Wait, don't tell me. You must be one of the X-5's and 'Robo-boy', Alexz's name, not mine."  
"The names Max." Max informed him, not lifting her head from Logan's shoulder. "And you would be. . .?"  
"This would be my big 'brother'." Alexz chimed in, popping out from behind Angel. "Meet the great V5-57-50, a.k.a. Angelus."  
"Alexz, get it right. The name is Angel, and you know it."  
"Or yeah, I forgot, Angelus is just your evil twin." Alexz said sarcastically, laughing as she dodged a punch thrown by the annoyed Angel.  
  
"Alexz, what are you doing annoying Angel?" Cordelia's voice calmed the two younger V's down. "I thought Spike said you were working on something."  
"When did you see Spike?"   
"He's downstairs stuffing his face and annoying those two X-5's. Last I saw, the blonde one was chasing him with a pool stick."  
  
"WHAT!?!" Max yelled, jumping to her feet. Alexz opened her mouth to tell Max to chill, but she was interrupted by the sounds of feet pounding on the stairs. Spike zoomed past her and dived over Pro's bed and rolled under it. Zack appeared a second later, banishing a pool stick and looking extremely red faced and pissed.   
"Where. . . is. . . he?" Zack gasped, bending over trying to catch his breath.  
"Ahhh, poor little Zachy-wacky is out of breath." Alexz said. Max and Logan started to laugh, and there was a distinct explosion of laughter from under the bed.   
  
Zack's eyes narrowed his eyes and dived under the bed. But Spike had already rolled out the other side and was almost out the door before Alexz grabbed his leather duster.   
"Whoa! Hold it!" She yelled. Spike dragged her a few feet before she actually stopped him. Zack, meanwhile, had pulled himself out from under the bed and would have been on Spikes throat, except Angel had gripped his shoulders and literally lifted him off the ground.   
"Stop right there! No one beats my 'brother' over the head with a pool stick except me." Angel told him firmly. Spike stuck his tongue out at Angel. Angel grabbed the pool stick from Zack and rapped Spike on the head.   
  
"Hey!" Spike yelled, rubbing his head. "What the hell was that for?"  
"That was for Pro." Angel informed him. Then he hit him again.  
"OWW! What the hell was THAT for?"  
"For when you do something and I don't see it." Angel said, before tossing the pool stick to Cordelia. He briefly decided tossing it to Spike, but decided that wouldn't be a good idea. Spike was a firm believer in revenge.   
  
Cordelia caught it in one hand, then spun it expertly and slid it into a sheath on her back. Alexz's eyes went wide, and she grinned.   
"That wasn't a pool stick! That was your fighting stick!"  
"Prove it." Cordelia said with a grin.   
"Oh, by the way, I fixed my earpeice. And the recording is very interesting. Very interesting." Alexz said to Spike.  
"Is it about Pro?" Angel asked, dropping Zack in a heap at his feet.  
"Maybe. Maybe not. I'm just saying, it's very interesting. . . ackk!" Angel lifted Alexz off the ground by her shirt.   
"Alexz." He said, his voice dangerously low. "Tell me what the recording says."  
  
"Angel. . . world going. . . black. Can't. . . breath." Alexz managed to get out.  
"You don't need to breath." Angel reminded his 'sister', tightening his grip on her shirt.   
"Umm, Angel, Alexz can't really talk if your closing off her windpipe." Spike reminded his angry older 'brother'. Angel released Alexz while she was still a few feet off the ground and she landed in Spikes arms. She cleared her throat and smiled at him, wrapping her arms around his neck.  
  
"We've got to stop meeting like this." She teased quietly.  
"No promises." He said huskily. Angel cleared his throat loudly. They both blushed and Spike set Alexz on her feet.   
"Alexz. The recording." Angel urged impatiently.   
"Oh right. It's in my room. Come on. We'll listen to it in there." Alexz turned and everyone followed her into her room.   
  
Alexz sat down in her desk chair, while Spike perched on the edge of her desk, Angel paced impatiently, Logan sat in Alexz's directors chair with Max on his lap, and Zack leaned against the wall glaring at Logan, Spike and Angel at the same time, quite a feat. Alexz fiddled with the recorder for a few minutes before sitting back.  
"All right, listen."   
  
Everyone heard Kesal's voice clearly through the tiny speaker.   
"What do you want Connor."   
"CONNOR!?!" Everyone yelled, their mouths dropping.   
  
  
  
  
"Connor, I'm not kidding. Back away from her right now before I hurt you." Kesal threatened. Connor laughed.   
"Oh, baby 'brother', I don't think your in any position to be making demands." So fast he was almost a blur, Connor was at Kesal's side. He lifted the large knife he held and slashed Kesal across the chest. The cut was brutally deep, and Kesal screamed in agony as the blood began to pour from his chest.   
  
Connor smiled viciously and didn't remove the knife from the wound. He twisted it deeper, and Kesal screamed again before passing out.   
"KESAL!" Pro screamed, the tears streaming down the face as she frantically searched the pale, unmoving face of her 'brother' for any signs of life.   
"Kesal!" Connor mocked. Pro spat in his direction before turning her attention back to Kesal.  
"Kesal, wake up! Kesal, if you die on me, I'm going to kick your ass!"   
  
"Oh, shut up!" Connor snarled. He walked over to Pro's side and slashed her leg open to the bone.   
"Kesal!" Pro screamed before she passed out.   
  
  
  
  
"Oh, shut up!" The voice over the speaker was cold, not the warm, laughing voice of the older 'brother' they remembered. They all winced as they heard the distance sound of a knife cutting through skin.   
"Kesal!" Pro's pain filled voice drifted over the speaker and then there was silence. Angel leaned against the wall and slid to the floor, his head on his knees and his shoulders shook with sobs. Cordelia knelt down next to him and put an arm around his shoulders, tears streaking her own face.   
  
"Angel." Alexz whispered. He lifted his head slightly and saw Alexz crying. Wordlessly he sat up straight and opened his arms. Alexz rushed into them and cried into his shoulder. Angel hugged his little 'sister' tightly while he sobbed. Spike quietly walked over and placed a hand on Alexz's shoulder. Alexz stood up and wrapped her arms around Spike. Spike buried his face in Alexz's neck to hide his tears. Slowly Angel and Cordelia stood up and wrapped their arms around the younger V's. Max, Logan and Zack looked at each other, before Max closed her eyes and rested her head on Logan's shoulder.   
  
The floor outside Alexz's room creaked and everyone's head shot up. A boy with long dark brown hair with red streaks and brown eyes stood in the doorway. He was about 5'9, 190 pounds. The girl next to him was about 5'5 and 120 pounds, with golden brown skin, long black hair with silver streaks and black eyes. They were V2-24-27 and V9-91-94, Andrew and Nefertiti.   
  
"What happened?" The boy asked, concerned. "Where's Pro?"  
"Yeah, who died? And where's Project M.A.X. and Kesal?" The girl added. Everyone exchanged looks and Alexz broke away from the group hug to rewind the recording and play the last part, with the sound of Pro being cut and her yelling Kesal's name.   
  
The boy's face went white, and the girl swayed like she was going to pass out.   
"Drew." Alexz whispered. "I'm sorry." Drew crossed the space between them in a few strides and enfolded her in his long arms.   
"Hey, hey. It's okay." He whispered. Alexz clung to him like she was drowning and he was her life preserver.   
  
  
  
  
Kesal came to slowly. He looked around widely, but Pro was no where to be seen. He went to pull on his restraints, but he sat up instead. Kesal shook his head and tried to stand up. His body protested and he sat down again.  
"Pro!" He yelled frantically. "Pro! Where are you?" He listened intently but there was no answer. "Ahh man, Angel and Drew are going to KILL me if I lost Pro." He muttered, putting his head in his hands.   
  
Suddenly, his enhanced ears picked up soft moaning. His head shot up. "Pro? Pro is that you?"  
"Kesal?" His 'sisters' voice was weak, but there.  
"Pro! Where are you?"  
"I think I'm in the cell next to you."   
"Are you okay?"  
"No."   
  
Kesal thought he was going to faint. "Pro! What's wrong?"  
"Kesal, we're being held prisoner and tortured by our own brother! How the HELL do you EXPECT me to feel!"   
"If your well enough to insult me, your fine."  
"Oh shut up." Pro said, but he could hear the lighter tone in her voice.   
"How's your arm?"  
"I think that thing that Connor injected me with has worn off a little. I've stopped bleeding, but my arm hasn't healed all the way yet."  
"At least it's stopped bleeding." Kesal tried to comfort her.  
"Don't be condescending."  
  
Kesal laughed, and reached up to run a hand through his hair. His hand brushed something near his ear and it dropped into his lap. Curious, he reached down and picked it up. Then he grinned widely and barely stifled a whoop of joy.  
"Pro!" He said.  
"WHAT!"  
"What's your problem?"  
"I'm trying to sleep! Your not helping!"  
"Pro, shut up and listen to me! I found my earpeice." There was silence from Pro, and he was afraid something had happened. "Pro?"  
"Does it work?"  
"I don't know."  
  
Kesal blew into it, and tapped. Feedback squealed loudly and he winced. He heard a thud from the other side of the wall.  
"KESAL! You are a dead man!"  
"What happened?"  
"You just about burst my eardrum, that's what happened!"  
"Sorry."  
"Anyway, mine's broken. It will receive but it won't transmit."  
"Hmm."  
  
  
  
  
Alexz was sitting on Spikes lap, and Spike was sitting on the bed. Their eyes were on Drew, who was pacing back and forth.   
"I can't believe this! Pro and Kesal are back at Manticore, being held hostage and tortured by our dead brother Connor, who isn't dead but alive and is now alive and very angry at us because we left when we thought he was dead and left him all alone and even took Pro with us. Is that what your telling me?" Drew fumed.   
"Well, that's the cliffnotes version, but yeah." Alexz said. Drew sighed and rubbed his eyes.   
"God, I feel like I'm having a mid-life crisis when I'm eighteen years old. What the hell were you guys thinking?"  
  
"Umm, this would be a good way to give you gray hairs?" Spike offered. Alexz elbowed him in the ribs trying to get him to shut up. Lydecker choose this moment to approach the oldest V.   
"Actually, they were helping me out." He said from the doorway. Drew spun around, and his eyes widened when he saw who was standing there. In a few long strides, he had closed the distance between them and decked Lydecker right in the face. Lydecker flew across the hallway and hit the far wall.   
  
"How dare you show up here." Drew said. "Your lucky there's no windows up here, or you'd find yourself heading out of one right now." Lydecker sat up, his eye already starting to swell.   
"Umm, Drew, before you completely drench the hallway in blood, there's something you should know." Alexz said, ignoring Spike's efforts to shush her.   
"What?" Drew asked, turning his back on Lydecker in disgust.   
"Pro was kinda, sorta, not really, but actually really deep in. . ."  
"Alexz just spit it out."  
"She was in heat."  
"WHAT!?!?!?!?" Drew and Angel exploded.  
  
  
  
  
"Pro, hows your, you know, situation?"  
"I'm trying not to think about it, and sitting on my hands every time they march those X5's by our cells."  
Just then, the cell door was opened by a guy with dark blonde hair and dark eyes.   
"Hey, X5 dude, I wouldn't do that if I were you." Kesal said from where he lay on his bunk.   
"The designation is X5-949. And just who are you to tell me what I should and should not do. . . ahh!" The boy had just been tackled by Pro. "Umm. . . hello?"  
"Hi." Pro purred back. 949 grabbed her by the waist and rolled so that he now sitting on top of her.  
  
"Okay, question. What's your name, and what the hell is wrong with you?"  
"Project M.A.X." Pro reversed his hold on her and rolled so that they were back in their original position. "And, theres nothing wrong with me."  
"Other than a few mental problems you mean." 949 rolled them over and pinned her.   
  
"Pro!" Kesal yelled from his cell. "Stop messing around and get me out of here!"  
"She's busy." Connor's voice suddenly informed him coldly. "Get up!" He yelled at the X5. "I told you to bring her to me, not jump each other's bones!"  
"Dude, she's totally hot, and she's in heat." 949 said with a cocky grin. Connor gripped the collar of the X5's tee shirt and hauled him to his feet, holding him until they were nose to nose.   
"That's my little sister." He said, dropping 949 on the floor. "Get your clothes back on and get back to your unit X5-949."  
  
"Yes sir!" 949 said sharply, clicking his heels and saluting before grabbing the gray sweater he had been wearing when he went into the cell before Pro had relieved him of it. Kesal laughed to himself as the X5 left. He had never seen anyone move as fast as 949 had getting away from Connor. He could probably go faster though.   
  
  
  
  
Angel rushed his 'brother' and 'sister', who had jumped off Alexz's bed and were now busy putting as much distance between themselves and their furious 'brother' as possible.   
"I'm going to kill you two!" He roared, rushing them again as they backed into a wall. They stood their ground, until the last moment. Just as Angel was about to grab them, they separated and Angel ran head first into the wall.   
  
As he sank to the ground stunned, Alexz pinned him. As the fog cleared from his eyes, Alexz began talking before Angel could summon his strength and throw her across the room.   
"Listen to me! You can either sit here and try to catch me and Spike, which you know you can't do, or you can put your anger aside and work with us to go get her back."   
  
Angel considered this for a moment, before surging to his feet and throwing Alexz half-way across the room. She crashed into Spike and they both fell backwards onto her bed.   
"Owwww!" They both whined. But Angel seemed to have gotten his anger out of his system, and was ready to plan the rescue of his 'siblings.' 


	4. Starting The Rescue

Angel sat in Pro's room, collecting emergency medical equipment, just in case. He turned when he sensed someone at the door, and looked over his shoulder to see Drew standing in the doorway.   
"You know, it's going to be kind of hard to rescue your girlfriend if your sitting up here brooding. Plus, Alexz and Spike are downstairs playing escape and evade in the shadows, and Cordelia, Nefertiti and I are getting a little tired of getting 'accidentally' tackled."  
  
"Drew, you heard the tape. We don't know what kind of shape we're going to find Pro and Kesal in." Angel said, going back to his packing.  
"True." Drew said, shrugging his shoulders and coming the rest of the way into the room.   
"And I was NOT brooding." Angel said, shouldering the medical pack and walking past Drew and down the stairs.   
"Yeah right, and I'm Lydecker." Drew shot at his 'brothers' back.  
"Nice to meet you Deck." Angel fired back.   
  
Drew smirked, glad that his 'brother' had his somewhat not-existent sense of humor back and followed him down.   
  
  
  
  
Connor turned from the bloody and unconscious mess that was his little sister. Chuckling to himself, Connor carefully cleaned his knife as he left her cell, leaving the door open.   
"You bastard." Kesal managed to spit out through his cut and bruised lips. To keep Kesal busy while he was 'working' on his 'sister', Connor had ordered a squad of ten X7's into his cell to basically beat the hell out of him, after giving him an injection to slow Kesal's healing of course.  
  
Kesal couldn't stand on his own, but was using the bars of his cell to support himself. His whole body felt like one big bruise, and he was pretty sure that most of his bones were broken. His face was covered in blood and bruises and he couldn't see out of one eye.   
"Shut up Kesal." Connor said. He opened the door, and backhanded Kesal across the face. It was too much for the younger and smaller boy, and he fell to the ground, barely hanging on to consciousness. Weakly, he grabbed Connor's ankle.  
  
Connor simply glared at the boy before kicking him in the jaw, and flipping him onto his back. Kesal groaned, his eyes fluttering. Connor smiled once evilly before stomping on Kesal's face. Finally, Kesal's world went black.  
  
Unnoticed by Connor, Pro had not really been unconscious, just pretending. As Connor was concentrating on making Kesal miserable, Pro had swung her legs off her cot and was sneaking out of her cell. Her wounds were all bandaged, except for her broken arm, which swung loosely at her side for a moment before Pro cradled it against her stomach. She didn't really notice the pain. One of the things about her heat was that it dulled all the pain.   
  
Pro slipped out of the cell, and noticed a spare piece of metal that was laying on the ground. Pro picked it up and released some of her mutant powers. All the V's had them, but all of them had different powers. Pro had the ability to tap into the potential energy contained within an object and transform it into kinetic energy. When Pro charged an object with kinetic energy and threw it at a target, the object released the energy explosively on impact.   
  
Pro wasn't supposed to use her powers when she was in heat. They were to hard to control. But desperate times called for desperate measures. . . Pro picked up the metal bar and charged it, fighting hard to control her powers. She was lucky this time. She was able to keep her powers under control, and not alert Connor to her presence.   
  
Pro waited until the bar started to glow a bright gold, then threw it at Connor's back. She dived to the side, throwing her arm over her face to protect her from the blast. The bar exploded, and threw Connor into the wall, knocking him out. Kesal, who had just woken up, managed to stand, his legs starting to heal.  
  
"Pro!" He yelled, stumbling to the open door of his cell. Sure enough, his sister was grinning at him, one of her arms pulled up against her chest.   
"Hey 'bro'. Let's blow this joint." She hurried to him and offered as much support as she could to help him stand up straight. "Listen, you get out of here. I can handle myself, and with my broken arm, I'll slow you down. Plus, we'll have a better chance of getting out of this if we split up."  
"Pro, I'm not leaving you. Angel would kill me!"  
"He'll never know!"  
"Pro, he can read minds! Did you forget that little fact?"  
"Oh yeah." Pro said quietly. "Well, don't let him read your mind."  
"Are you out of your damn mind girl?! If I try and block him out, he'll know something is up!"  
"No he won't!" Pro was as close to whining as she was ever going to get. Kesal instantly looked at her suspiciously.   
  
"Pro, are you up to something?"  
"No!"  
"You are too! I can see it in you eyes!"  
"Kesal! I'm insulted! My own brother doesn't trust me!"  
"Pro, promise me your not going to go find that X5 if I leave."  
"I promise." Pro said, crossing her fingers behind her back.   
  
  
  
  
Later, everyone piled into the V's private plane. Max had raised an eyebrow, but decided she really didn't want to know where the plane had come from, especially after the looks Alexz and Spike had gotten on their faces when she had asked about it. Alexz and Drew had a fast and furious fight over who got to pilot.   
"I wanna fly!"  
"NO! I'm flying the plane!"  
"I wanna fly!"  
"Alexz, you are not flying this plane."   
"I wanna fly!"  
  
Angel growled, and left his seat to walk up to his 'sister' and 'brother'.   
"You guys, fighting is not going to get us there any faster."  
"STAY OUT OF THIS!" Alexz and Drew yelled at the same time. Angel rolled his eyes and pinned Alexz to the wall.   
"I'll fly!"  
"I wanna fly!"  
"I'll fly!"  
"I wanna fly!"  
  
"Angel! Alexz! Fine, Angel let Alexz fly, she's the baby." Drew said, rubbing his forehead.   
"Na, I don't wanna fly." Alexz said, slipping out from under Angel's arm and walking to the back of the plane to sit with Spike. They whispered together for a while before a tickling fight broke out.   
"Hey you two! Knock it off! The last thing we need right now is you two joining the Mile High Club!"  
"SHUT UP DREW!" They both yelled, blushing. Drew was amazed.   
"Oh my God! You two are blushing!"   
  
Alexz threw a cushion at him.  
  
  
  
  
Pro slipped through the shadows of the corridors, making sure that she stayed all the way in the shadows. She heard someone coming down the hall and flattened her body against the wall. When she saw who it was, her heart sped up, just a little bit and she licked her lips. It was X5-949. He ran a hand through his hair and yawned as he opened the door to a small barrack.   
  
Pro finally gave in to her urgings, and with a growl, she let out of the shadows and landed on his back, knocking him into the room. She kicked as they fell, closing the door behind them.   
  
  
  
  
Drew set the auto pilot and walked into the back to check on his 'siblings' and their guests. Lydecker was sleeping quietly, thanks to the knock-out pill Cordelia had slipped him. Logan was also asleep, his chair all the way back. Max was sitting on his lap, her head on his chest, eyes closed. Drew could tell she wasn't asleep. Zack was also laying back in his seat, eyes closed. Syl was behind him, staring out the window.   
  
Drew passed her and moved into the V section of the plane. Angel was sleeping, as was Nefertiti in the seat next to him, and so was Spike. Alexz was asleep too, snuggled up next to Spike. His arm was around her, his cheek resting on her head as she used his shoulder for a pillow. Drew smiled at them and gently put a blanket over the two of them. In the last seat, Cordelia was laying back, her eyes closed, but Drew knew she wasn't sleeping. She never did.   
  
"Hey." He said quietly, sitting down next to her.   
"Hey." She whispered back, not opening her eyes. She was silent for a moment, and Drew saw her start to twist her fingers together. He reached out and covered them with one of his own.   
"Their okay you know. They have to be." He assured her.  
"I hope so." Cordelia opened her eyes, and Drew was shocked to see tears in her beautiful brown eyes.   
"They are."  
"How do you know?"  
  
Drew smiled at her as he laid the seat back so that he was laying next to her. Cordelia turned on her side so they were facing each other.   
"Hey, I'm the big 'brother' remember? I know everything." Drew said. Cordelia smiled and smacked him gently.  
"Cockiness is not a virtue."  
"Hey, it got you to smile."   
"Thanks." Cordelia said, resting her forehead on his.   
"Any time." Drew leaned foreword and kissed her, once, gently, before getting up and heading back towards the front.   
  
Cordelia watched him go, and a huge smile spread across her face and she touched her lips gently.   
"Aww, Cordy and Drew sitting in a tree, K-I-S-S-I. . ." Spike sleep filled voice drifted back to Cordelia before Alexz slapped a pillow over his face and told him to be quiet.   
  
  
  
  
"I'm killing my siblings." Connor announced as he walked into his apartment. The very obviously pregnant lady on the couch looked up at him.   
"What?" She asked, confused. She was about 5'6, and usually skinny but muscular. The bulge at her stomach was about nine months along. She had long red hair with orange streaks, and hazel eyes. She was V0-02-05, Victoria Loiselle-O'Connol, Connor's wife, and Spike's unknown sister.  
  
"What was that sweetie?" She asked, trying to get up off the couch, but falling back. Connor laughed at his wife annoyed look, the sound warm and loving, very different from the laugh that had sent chills up and down Kesal and Pro's spines.   
"Here honey, let me help you." He said, coming over and pulling her off the couch and into his arms. He rubbed her stomach affectionately. "How's the bump?" Vicky smacked his shoulder, hard.  
"Stop that! I told you, HER name is Mikayla."  
"Okay, okay. How's Mikayla?"  
"Practicing kick boxing." Vicky said. The baby seemed to hear her, because she kicked hard just then, right where Connor's hand was. He jumped.  
"Whoa! She's got a hell of a right kick."  
"I noticed." Vicky said with a winced. "Now, what about your siblings?"  
  
  
  
  
Kesal stumbled into the woods, falling down a third time. He simply lay there in the wet mud for a while, not wanting to get up, knowing he had too. Knowing Connor, as soon as he figured out what had happened, he'd send the squads after him. Pro's face flashed through his head, as well as Syl's.   
  
Kesal forced himself to get to his feet, ignoring the way his left leg kept bending in the wrong place. He had been in worse situations. He couldn't think of any at the moment, but he knew there were some. He stumbled a few more yards, before he had to grab onto a tree to keep from falling. He tried to get up, but his leg refused to support him and he fell down again. Kesal again tried to get up, and again he fell down.   
  
Kesal gritted his teeth and forced himself to try a shut away the pain. He once again forced himself to his feet, grabbing onto the tree and pushing off of it. And he fell again. But before he hit the ground, someone's arms caught him.   
"Kesal? Kesal? Are you okay? Come on Hawk, talk to me." Only one person called him hawk. . .  
"Hey Drew." He whispered as he fell into the darkness.   
  
  
  
  
Renfro finished the lab report, and closed it, setting it on her desk. She steepled her fingers as she moved her chair from left to right, keeping her piercing eyes on the two lab technicians who sat in front of her desk.   
"How far along is she now?" Renfro asked, keeping her eyes on the technicians.  
"Nine months Ma'am."  
"Why wasn't I informed about this earlier?"  
"Well, the test we were running were very difficult to run on the small samples of blood that we had from her. It took a while for all the tests to finish."  
  
Renfro nodded, and fell into silence, still moving her chair from left to right. Then she stopped and stood up. The lab technicians stood up as well.  
"Keep me informed. I want full reports on her condition at all times. The minute she goes into labor, move her to the lab."  
"But Ma'am, she used to work here. She'll realize what's going on."  
"Yes, but by then, it will be too late."  
"But what if she fights back? She is a V after all. And what about her husband? He's also a V."  
  
  
Renfro's eyes turned cold. "Yes, I realize that."  
"So, what if they fight us?"  
"Kill them. I want that baby." 


End file.
